Developing a Protocol for Medical Student-Organized Community-Based Hypertension Screening Programs

Authors

  • Vishal P. Varshney MD Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
  • Tyrone Harrison MD Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
  • Michal Szymczakowski MD Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
  • Matthew Grossi MD Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
  • Charlotte Jones Libin Cardiovascular Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2013.12

Keywords:

Hypertension, Mass Screening, Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory, Students, Medical

Abstract

Background: Hypertension screening programs have been effective in raising awareness and identifying people who are otherwise unfamiliar with their disease. We aimed to develop a resource-minimal, evidence-based protocol for a novel medical student-organized hypertension-screening program capable of community implementation.

Methods: Eighty-one medical students had their blood pressure measured once using an automated machine and once using the manual auscultatory method. Bland-Altman plots compared agreement between measurement techniques.

Results: No significant difference between manual and automated techniques was noted in the measurement of systolic blood pressure, but was noted for diastolic blood pressure.

Conclusions: In the context of a community-based screening program, automated and manual measurements may be used interchangeably to obtain an accurate measure of systolic blood pressure. A medical student-organized community-screening program is an effective way to screen large numbers of people in a short amount of time.

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References

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Published

2013-04-30

How to Cite

Varshney, V. P., Harrison, T., Szymczakowski, M., Grossi, M., & Jones, C. (2013). Developing a Protocol for Medical Student-Organized Community-Based Hypertension Screening Programs. International Journal of Medical Students, 1(1), 8–11. https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2013.12

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2013)

Section

Original Article

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